February 2, 2014

New release That Awkward Moment opens in an ugly third this weekend, as Zac Efron tries to resurrect a career that has had him appearing in four films over the last two years that failed to earn a million dollars. The opening for That Awkward Moment came in at $9 million, too soft to gain any kind of traction with a few big releases coming next weekend. Focus Features released the film to 2,809 locations, and it garnered a venue average of $3,208.

Sold as a movie for women, but looking more like a movie for guys, this muddled messaging didn’t help Awkward Moment, and neither did its Super Bowl weekend release date. It did outgross the cost to make the film ($8 million), and obliterated the pick-up cost ($1.5 million), but the pick-up would have brought advertising costs with it as well. That Awkward Moment didn’t receive great reviews and earned a blah B Cinemascore, so this one is going to be a distant memory in about two weeks.

Fourth is The Nut Job, and while it’s certainly no Frozen, this silly animated adventure from upstart Open Road seems to keep bringing the kids in. The Nut Job earned another $7.6 million in its third weekend, and was off 37% from its $12.1 million take last weekend. Made for a comparatively small $42 million (Frozen cost $150 million to make), Open Road has turned The Nut Job into a winner, with a gross so far of $50.2 million. It is sneaking up on Open Road’s biggest release ever, The Grey with Liam Neeson, which took in $51.6 million during its run. It is going to need to find some overseas success to find a real profit, but at least it’s not carrying a loss. I expect The Nut Job to be kneecapped next weekend by The Lego Movie, which has had an ever-present marketing campaign over the last few weeks.

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Fifth goes to Lone Survivor, Universal’s other big winner early in 2014. After a second place finish last weekend with $12.9 million, the bottom fell out, with the Super Bowl providing heavy Sunday competition. This weekend, Lone Survivor pulled in another $7.2 million, dipping 45% in the process. The good news for the $40 million release is that it crossed the $100 million mark on Saturday, its 24th day in wide release. It is Mark Wahlberg’s seventh film to earn more than $100 million domestically, and provides Peter Berg further damage relief after Battleship. Survivor has earned about $6 million overseas, and should finish on the domestic side with about $125 million.

Sixth is Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and to its credit it hasn’t folded since opening poorly three weekends ago at $15.5 million. This weekend, Paramount’s Jack Ryan film earned another $5.4 million, so after opening softly, it has seen drops of 41% both last weekend and this weekend. Made for $60 million, the Chris Pine starrer has found $39 million on the domestic side, but is approaching $50 million overseas.